Immigrant Investor Petition
(EB-5)

An alien entrepreneur may seek immigrant status if he or she seeks to
establish a new commercial enterprise:

That the alien has established;

In which the alien has either invested, or is in the process of investing
$1,000,000 (or $500,000 for target employment areas); and

Which will benefit the United States economy and create ten full-time
employment positions for United States citizens or lawful permanent
residents (other than the spouse, daughter or son of the alien investor).

The INS does not require immediate creation of 10 full-time positions
for United States workers. If such workers in fact are already on the
payroll of the organization at the time the investor is applying for
a visa, tax records or INS
I-9 forms (Employment Eligibility Verification)
or other documentation
may be supplied. However, in the more

likely situation that the investment
enterprise will only exist after the entrepreneur enters the United States,
a
copy of a comprehensive business plan projecting a need for no fewer than
10 qualified employees within two
years and their anticipated hiring dates
will be accepted.

A business plan should include the following:

How the commercial enterprise is organized (whether as a corporation,
general or limited partnership, business trust, joint venture, holding
company, sole proprietorship, or other entity);

The concept and purpose behind the enterprise;

A description of the physical premises, including photographs
(if available),
or drawings of the planned premises if not yet constructed;

Financial forecasts and projections for implementation of the business
plan, including requested capitalization and anticipated return on
investment, and estimated timetables for construction, commencement
of operations, and hiring;

Specific market research demonstrating that the target area for business
will support it; and

Credentials of key persons responsible for development and management
of the business enterprise, including the investor if appropriate.

The business plan should be straightforward and comprehensible to ensure
the investor understands all aspects of the investment, and so that INS adjudicators
will know in a brief review that the investment will satisfy statutory and
regulatory requirements for conditional residence.

Immigrant investors and their spouses and children enter the U.S. in conditional
permanent resident status subject to termination after two years. To preserve
permanent resident status, they must petition for removal of the condition
during the 90-day period before the second anniversary of their original
admission.

The petition for removal of the condition must include evidence that a commercial
enterprise was established and that the petitioner "invested or was
actively in the process of investing the requisite capital." The investor
must also show that he or she "sustained" these actions throughout
the period of the investor's residence in the United States.

One caveat for alien immigrant investors: the United States taxes such investors
for their worldwide income during their two-year conditional residency.